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Eddie Munson had been spending his summer at Starcourt mall, he never intended on that but one day after getting Ice cream at a sailor themed parlor and Steve Harrington working the counter, how could he not spend his summer there. What he didn't expect is that Steve had completely changed since high school and was actually a pretty good dude, they became good friends surprisingly quickly.Eddie had entered the mall on July 3rd, 1985 not even bothering to pretend to look around, because he knows he only came here for one thing, and that thing happened to be Steve Harrington. As he turned the corner he spotted the parlor and made his way over as he opened the door the bells around the knob jingled, he walked in to the surprisingly empty store.Steve looks up from the counter making eye contact with Eddie, Steve's immediately perked up at the sight of Eddie, letting his face form a relieved smile. "Eddie," Steve says addressing the boy. "Jeez, am I happy too see your face." Eddie makes his way over to where Steve is sitting on the back counter. "Salutations, Stevie." Eddie leans across the main counter with his forearms on the surface and his fingers intertwined with each other."So, what can I get for you today." Steve hopes off the counter in front of the small double door window and grabs his ice cream scooper from the side of his uniform."Surprise me Harrington." Eddie gives a playful smirk."Alrighty, whats today's budget?" "Lets go with $10.00, just had a big sale.""Okay, I can work with that." Steve says thinking of what all he can do with the ice cream. "Go take a seat i'll be right there." Steve gestures to the many empty booths and tables around the vacant store.Eddie settles on the booth closest to the register, he grabs the little kid coloring sheets leaning against the wall of the booth and chooses one with a printed elf playing the flute before picking up the box of crayons.After a few minutes Steve pops up beside the booth sliding a cup of swirled mint chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream layered with chocolate chips and candy cane with a fudge drizzle over it toped with a cherry. "Your total is $7.50." Steve smiles as he carefully watches Eddie judge his work."Damn Harrington you're getting better." Eddie smiles at the dessert in front of him as he pushes away the coloring sheet from earlier. "You think?" Steve sighs in relief."Heck yea." Eddies words are muffled as he eats his ice cream."I go on break in about..." Steve looks at his watch. "... Ten minutes."Steve sighs. "Wait for me?"Steve asks hopefully. "Yea, for sure."--------------------It had been about nine minutes and Robin was now working the counter so Steve went to the back grabbing all his personal stuff he doesn't want to lose as he walks through the mall to get lunch which is basically just his keys and his wallet. He stops as hes about to reach for his wallet when he hears a familiar voice speaking to Robin."Is he here?" Steve hears Dustin asks Robin. Steve immediately forgets about his wallet and runs to the door of the backroom with a start."Henderson." Steve says to which Dustin gives a big goofy smile and a laugh. Steve starts jumping around making his way over to Dustin. "Henderson! He's back! He's back!.""I'm back, you got the job!" Dustin says equally excited. "I got the job!" Steve makes the trumpet noises as they began their very nerdy and complicated hand shake which ends in Steve pretending to be bleeding out.Eddie and Robin just watch making amused side glances at each other."So..." Eddie starts drawing everyone's attention. "This is the all mighty Dustin?" Eddie says his hands folded on the top of the booth as he rests his head on top of his folded arms.Steve looks back at Dustin overly excited. "Oh my god, Dustin, this is Eddie." Steve says gesturing to the long haired boy. "You are gonna love him."-------------------Steve takes his break sitting with Dustin and Eddie catching up with Dustin as the young curly haired boy eats a banana split."No, no. no way." Steve says to Dustin's remark about his new girlfriend Suzie. "Hotter then Phoebe Cates.""Brilliant, too." Dustin remarks. "And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth."Eddie raises his eyebrows at that but doesn't say anything."That's ro-- that's romantic." Steve says glancing at Eddie in a way of saying he means the opposite of what he's saying.Dustin just ignores him and points to his banana split. "Do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?""Yeah. I mean, sure. it's not really a good idea for me, though." Steve puts his hands in an up and down motion refering to his body. "You know, I gotta keep a good shape for the ladies."Robin speaks from where she's sweeping. "Yeah, and hows that working out for you?" She jerks her head towards Eddie which causes Steve's face to heat up a bit but it doesn't seem like anyone other then Steve and Robin notice."Ignore her." Steve turns his head back to Dustin."She seems cool." Dustin continues to dig into his split."She's not." Eddie remarks before going to the counter to order a milkshake."Okay, we need to talk." Dustin says as soon as Eddie is out of ear shot."Why, whats going on?" Steve asks concern lacing his voice as he watches Dustin look around nervously at everybody in the parlor.Dustin returns his gaze back to Steve mumbling something very incoherent."What was that?"Dustin mumbles again even more incoherent."Imma need you to speak louder.""I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin says louder then Steve meant causing everyone's eyes to turn them including Eddie who was walking back with a chocolate milkshake."You what now." Eddie says as he sits down.Dustin stares at him wide eyed. "Can i trust you?""Um sure." Eddie speaks now even more confused."I need a yes or a no." Dustin says sharply "Yes, you can trust him." Steve cuts in.Dustin explains how he found the code on his Cerebro."Okay, and whats the catch?" Steve asks now that their caught up."There is no catch, I just need your help." Dustin sighs looking between the two older boys across from him."Help-- Help with what?" Eddie asks.Dustin digs around in his backpack pulling out a Russian translation book and holds it up for the other two to see. "Translation."------------------
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The three of them are now in the backroom with the recording of the code on repeat. Dustin sits at the table where the cassette and it's player sit. Steve is walking back and forth eating a banana and Eddie is sitting on the counter above the cabinets. "So, what do you think?" Dustin asked as he turns off the cassette player after about the 5th time the Russian code had repeated itself. "It sounded familiar." Steve answered chewing on a chunk of banana."What?" Eddie hops off the counter he was sitting on and joins the other two around the table."The music." Steve replies. "The music there at the end, it sounded familiar.""Why are you listening to the music, Steve?" Dustin moves his hands as he speaks. That dramatic bastard. "Listen to the Russian.""No, no!" Steve speaks like he's about to start jumping up in down. "Eddie, stay here, Dustin follow me." Steve is already running out of the room leaving his banana peel behind. Dustin follows shortly after."What the hell!" Eddie yells after them but Steve and Dustin just continue their way out. Eddie rolls his eyes looking back at the translation book and gets to work.---------------------
Steve runs out of scoops Dustin following him, not far behind. Steve stops as he approaches the kids pony ride in the middle of the mall."Steve!" Dustin calls as he catches up to Steve who is turning his pockets inside-out. "What are you doing?""Uh, it's a quarter, I need." Steve turns to Dustin after deciding there was nothing helpful in his little sailor pockets. "Do you have a quarter?""Yeah, sure." Dustin reaches into the back pocket of his khaki shorts and pulls out a quarter which he tosses over to Steve.Steve catches the quarter flawlessly before quickly slides it into the machine.They music plays softly as the pony glides back and forth."Holy shit." Dustin rubs his hands over his eyes recognizing the soft tune as the one from the background of the Russian tap."You think they have horses like this in Russia?" Dustin suggests with a squeak in his voice."The 'Indiana Flyer', no way." Steve's eyes widen a bit as he speaks. "That code didn't come from Russia, It came from here."
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Eddie is in the backroom of scoops listening to the Russian code on repeat while he waits for Steve and Dustin to come back from their mall spying.Steve and Dustin are currently hiding behind a plant in the food court. Steve has the binoculars looking around for 'suspicious' looking people."See anything?" Dustin asks."Uh, I guess I don't totally know what i'm looking for." Steve reply's annoyed
"Evil Russians.""Yeah, exactly, I don't know what a evil Russian looks like." Steve whines."Tall, blonde, not smiling." Dustin rolls his eyes but Steve can't see as he looks through the lenses of the binoculars.Steve only hums in response."Camo, duffel bags, that sorta thing."'Okay, duffel bags.""So..." Dustin drags. "are we gonna talk about how you totally replaced me this summer?"Dustin's words catch Steve off guard. He quickly pushes the binoculars off his face so he can look at Dustin. "What are you talking about?""Eddie, he's totally your new best friend." Dustin speaks with a sad smile snatching the lens' from Steve."Totally not, He's not even..." Steve's face flushes a bit his face being overcome with a light pink shade. "... In the ballpark of even being my best friend, all right.""Why is that?" Dustin says clearly not buying it as he looks back through the binocular lenses.Steve shrugs thinking a bit. "First off, he's still in school. And he's weird. He's a weirdo. And he has no sense of personal space. Not to mention he did drama, that's a bad look." Steve makes a face of false disgust. " And he's in a metal band? No."Dustin looks back at Steve sighing. "You'd think that now that you're out of high school, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive construct such as popularity?" Steve opens and closes his mouth a few times trying to find words but nothing comes so he just falls silent letting Dustin continue his rant."And Instead of hanging out with somebody you think is gonna make you cooler, why not hangout with somebody you actually enjoy being around? Like me and Suzie.""You and Suzie!" Steve's face reddens again. "What do you and Suzie have to do with this!""It was just an example." Dustin shrugs.---------------------Eddie mumbles to himself sitting on the scoops ahoy backroom counter as he sips on a chocolate milkshake he had ordered about fifteen minutes ago. "The week is long, The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to china sounds nice if you tread lightly." Eddie reaches for the translation book flipping through the pages. "Tread lightly?" He get's distracted by a knock on the Scoops Ahoy delivery door. He decides not to bother Robin and opens it himself.As Eddie opens the door he's met with a overweight guy holding a box and a clipboard."Delivery." The guy speaks mono toned.Eddie takes the box and sits it down on the table before going back to signing the clipboard under Steve's name. As he's signing he notices the guy's uniform. It's a simple all black button down with black pants matched with a hat, the word Lynx is printed all over the uniform. Eddie finishes signing and leans back."Have a nice day." They guy turns and starts down the hall.Eddie leans out of the doorway and see's the back of the guys uniform. It has a large silver Lynx printed on the back. "Silver cat." He runs out the backroom and is met with Steve and Dustin, but he doesn't hear what they say he just continues out the shop. He can hear Steve faintly calling his nameEddie makes his way to the middle of the food court. "A trip to China sounds nice." He mumbles as his eyes land on the China town restaurant. "if you tread lightly." As he is met with the Kaufman shoes on the upper level of the mall. "When blue meets yellow in the west." He desperately starts looking around spinning in a circle. His gaze drifting to the yellow and blue clock on the mall wall."Eddie, what are you doing?" Steve speaks drawing Eddie back into the real world."I cracked it." Eddie says a huge grin growing on his face."Cracked what." Steve contorts into a mix of worry and confusion.Eddie jumps down from the small platform he was standing on. "The code, I cracked it." Grin only going wider as it meets his eyes.Steve's eyes grow wide as he reaches over and pulls Eddie into a bear hug. "Holy shit." Steve speaks a huge smile matching Eddie's grows on his face as he pulls back still holding onto Eddie's lean biceps."Holy shit." Eddie repeats.--------------------
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Dustin, Steve and Eddie are now in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy.Dustin paces back and forth as he recalls the scene they saw at the loading dock an hour prior. "That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with said keycard is armed with a massive gun.""Well, you know..." Steve drops his scoops hat that he had been fidgeting with and leans across the table a bit. " I could just take him out."Eddie giggles a bit. "Now is not the time to be looking for a date, Stevie.""What?" Steve speaks all flustered and pink faced. "That is not what i meant..." Steve sighs." ... I meant i could sneak up behind him, knock him out, and take the keycard." Steve says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world."Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin asks stopping his pacing to look at Steve. "Yes, Dustin, I did, you've only mentioned 80 times." Steve is clearly annoyed now."But, hear me out?" Dustin pauses for a moment. "Have you actually ever won a fight?""Okay, that was one time." "Twice. Jonathan. Year prior." Dustin puts up two fingers for emphasis."Listen that doesn't count." Steve says gritting his teeth.Eddie just watches amused."Why wouldn't it count?" Dustin counters. "Because it looked like he beat the shit out of you."Eddie looks around the room eyes falling on the air vent ignoring the other twos bickering.Eddie runs to the main counter where the registers are and empty's the tip jar into his hand. "Yo, what the hell?!" Robin shouts. "Sorry, i will pay you back, promise." And with that Eddie's out of the parlor.Robin turns to Dustin and Steve. "What the hell are ya'll doing back there.""Don't worry about it." Dustin says pulling Steve back into the breakroom."Hey, Dingus, your break ends in 15!" Robin shouts after them.---------------------Eddie runs through Scoops Ahoy with a rolled up piece of blue paper in his hand."There you are." Steve says from his spot at the register as he scoops up some USS butterscotch for a girl with permed blonde hair around Eddie's age."Hey, I need you in the backroom, like asap." Eddie says walking to the counter. "Is Dustin back there?""Yeah, I'll be in there as soon as i get done with this customer." Steve says turning back to the girl.--------------------Steve, Dustin, and Eddie are all in the backroom circling the small table. "It is fascinating what 20 bucks can get you at the County Recorder's office." Eddie says slamming down some blueprints of a large building. "Starcourt Mall, the complete blueprints." Eddie says identifying the building.Eddie points to a part of the building. "So, this is us, Scoops." He moves his hand to a different area. "And this is where we want to get, the loading docks.""I mean, I don't really see a way in." Steve says looking down at Eddie who was leaned over the table."If you're talking exclusively about doors. Yeah, there would be no way in." Eddie takes the first blueprints off the table revealing a second paper. One the second paper is the ventilation system."Air ducts." Dustin says."Exactly." Eddie walks over to the white board now full of the Russian alphabet and grabs a dry erase marker. "Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room." Eddie walks back and draws the path they need to take through the air ducts. "And these vents, they lead all the way."-----------------------Steve screws off the vent on the top of the wall using a small ladder. "Flashlight." He mumbles."Here." Dustin says handing him a small yellow and black flashlight."Thank you." Steve shines the light into the vent. "Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if you can fit in here. It's like, super tight.""He'll fit." Dustin says very determined. Dustin then leaves the room saying he wants to check out this new Walkie Talkie that he say an add for at the mall yesterday."Uh, excuse me." Eddie says not aware that he would be the one going through the vents."I mean, you are the skinniest." Steve says hoping down from the ladder."140 pounds is perfectly normal for someone my age." Eddie says scrunching his nose."Yeah, for a fourteen year old." Steve says ruffling Eddies hair. "And how old are you again?" Steve doesn't even give Eddie time to answer. "Yeah, seventeen." "Wow, Harrington, didn't know you'd be one to body shame." Eddie speaks crossing his arms."Oh, was that to far, i'm sorr-""Oh my god." Eddie hits Steve's chest lightly in a playful manner. "You're fine, I was just pulling your leg.""Oh, yeah, right. Steve nods a bit flustered."Guess i'm up." Eddie says making his way up the ladder. Eddie sticks his arms into the vent and then his head. "Hey, can one of ya'll push me.""Yeah, sure." Steve grabs the bottom of Eddie's shoed feet and pushes a bit, Eddie Doesn't budge."Push my ass!" Eddie yells through the vent so he can be heard."What?" Steve asks taken back a bit."Push me in by my ass not my legs." Eddie sighs then yells. "Touch my butt, I don't care!""Okay." Steve takes hold of Eddie's butt which is only covered by a pair of knee long jean shorts, and to say the least Steve is bright red and he can feel it.---------------"Push harder!" Robin hears Eddie yell from the backroom. Her eyes widen and so do the eyes of the kid that had just came in asking for Steve."Um, do you know if Steve's here?" The kid asks."Um, yeah, he is." Robin knocks on the wall. "Hey, dingus, another kids here to see you!"It takes a few minutes but Steve comes out of the door more sweaty then normal. Robin raises her eyebrows but doesn't say anything."Oh, hey, Mike." Steve laughs awkwardly."Hey, yeah, can you let me get through to the movie theater?" Mike smiles sheepishly."Yeah, sure." Steve puts his hand on his hip. "Where are the other dorks?""Me, Lucas, and Will came here together to look for a gift for El, but then we ran into Max and Lucas left me and Will for her, then Will had to leave for therapy.""Oh, yeah, come on." Steve says waving Mike into the backroom.As soon as they enter, Mike see's a girl with long dark brown hair tying her hair up in a low bun as she looks up at a vent. Mike's eye's widen."Holy shit!" Mike gasps. "We're you having sex on the job!" This causes the girl to turn around. Mike's eye's widen even more realizing that this 'girl' wasn't a girl at all."What?!" Steve shreaks.Mike just looks between the two of them but before he can say more the backroom door opens revealing Dustin."Okay, time for you to go." Steve says ushering Mike out to the delivery hallway. "I'm not even gonna ask." Dustin sighs. "But, did he fit?""Nope, turns out i am not as skinny as you thought." Eddie says glaring at Steve.They then here the voice that is talking to Robin. Erica Sinclair.They all glance at each other, same idea popping into their heads.--------------------"I don't know." Erica says stepping down the ladder."You don't think you can fit?" Dustin asks"Oh, I can fit, I just don't know if I want to." "Then, whats the problem?" Steve asks crossing his arms."The problem is, I still haven't heard whats in this for Erica."That comment leads them to be sitting at a booth surrounded by ice cream that's only for Erica Eddie explains to the young girl exactly what she would need to do when she gets in to the vents.Erica argues back with child endangerment but they get her to at least try to do it, not for free though however, they now owe her free ice cream for life.-------------------Eddie, Dustin, and Steve are sitting on the same part of the roof as the did earlier that day to look at the loading dock.Dustin grabs his Cerebro from his backpack. "Erica, do you copy.""Mhmm, I copy." They here Erica say through the walkie in her normal sass filled tone. "Ya'll nerds in position or what?""Yeah, we're in position." Dustin answers back. "It's all clear here, so you've got the green light.""Green light, Copy that." They here the clanking of metal through the walkie talkie and assume thats Erica walking up the ladder. " Commence Operation Child Endangerment."Dustin rolls his eyes at that.they wait a few minutes, talking to Erica briefly through the Cerebros, They see the loading storage door open and see the dark skinned girl walk out.Erica puts her hand on her hip pointing at all three of them before shouting. "Free ice cream for life!"------------------------They slide back into the storage room. Steve opens one of the boxes using one of his keys to cut through the tape.Steve slowly opens the box to see a silver cube. He twists the handle then pulls revealing four other handles. "Maybe you guys should step back." Steve says shewing them to the side a bit. Dustin doesn't budge though, staring Steve in the eye. "You die, I die." Steve shrugs then turns to Eddie who had also not moved. Eddie shrugs at him. "What he said." Steve gives him a pointed look. "What, do you want me to say something cute to, Harrington." Eddie teases with a huge grin."Oh my god." Steve shakes his head then turns back to the box. Steve turns one of the smaller handles and pulls out a small glass beakers with a bubbly green liquid inside."Oh, what is that." Eddie says amused reaching out to touch it.Steve slaps his hand away. "Get your grimey hands away from it."Then the room shakes. Eddie on reflex hugs onto Steve's arm in fear, Erica tumbles falling on her padded knees, and Dustin leans against the wall.It stops shaking after a few seconds. Eddie quickly unlatches his arm with Steve's flushing a bit.Erica reaches and snatches the beaker from Steve. "Yeah i'm done here, let's take this and go." She starts her way to the buttons. She clicks them rapidly. "Guy's, The buttons aren't working." She looks frantic and scared."What do you mean, there not working?" Dustin says pushing past her and clicks the buttons himself. And that's when the room drops.---------------------